Despite the Biden administration's headlong push to reanimate the suspended Iran nuclear deal, a measure in the Senate would require the US president to seek congressional approval before inking a new agreement with the Islamic republic.
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The amendment would establish a significant roadblock in the Biden administration's bid to reenter the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, according to Washington Free Beacon.
As direct negotiations between Tehran and European nations progress in a swanky Viennese hotel, the United States is officially on the sidelines and making the appropriate noises about the two sides "being far apart."
However, there is a distinct impression that the so-called "difficulties" are for show and that US President Joe Biden's intention all along has been to return to the agreement from which former President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018.
he Republican-backed amendment would prevent the Biden administration from signing any new deal without Senate approval. Given that the Senate is locked in a 50-50 split with Vice President Kamala Harris providing the tie-breaking vote, and that the factions are anticipated to vote exactly along party lines, it is still unclear to which bill the amendment will be attached.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) spearheaded the amendment, which is already cosponsored by James Risch (R., Idaho), Ted Cruz (R., Texas), Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), and John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) – all of whom are on record as opposing the Biden administration's diplomacy with Iran, reported the Free Beacon.
The GOP senators wish to avoid a repeat of the deal's original architect - former President Barack Obama's - skirting of the legislature and instead insisting that if Biden wishes to sign what will effectively be a treaty, he would require congressional approval.
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"Our adversaries understand the Biden administration will chart the same weak and disastrous course as President Obama," Johnson said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.
"It's clear the Biden administration is in the business of appeasing adversaries like Russia, state sponsors of terrorism like Iran, and its terrorist proxies like Hamas. Instead of addressing the threats these actors pose, the administration will coddle the Iranian regime and ignore its malign activity throughout the region," Johnson added.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
